


Empathy without Sympathy

by Starling (StarDandere)



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: (except Kiibo), (robophobia at its finest), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Empath, M/M, Slow Burn, maybe? - Freeform, they all get their emotions linked w/ another person and it's Hell
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-05
Updated: 2018-07-03
Packaged: 2019-05-02 08:17:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,514
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14540571
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarDandere/pseuds/Starling
Summary: After the third trial, Monokuma announces that a new motive was enacted. With only the vague idea thatsomethinghas been done to their bodies, Kaito continues trying his best to lead the group forward without another murder occurring. If only Ouma would stop being an enigmatic pest and explain what he knew already.





	1. Chapter 1

He woke up with a deep unease brewing in the back of his mind. The type that tore across his entire body, constricting his muscles and leaving him shaky and nauseous. Kaito groaned, curling in on himself. That action was quickly reversed as the smell of blood hit his nose; a dark patch sat in the corner of his pillow where he’d spent parts of the night coughing into.

 

What a crappy way to start the morning.

 

Mentally berating himself for his weakness, he forced himself up, dragging his tired body to the bathroom to clean up. Fuck, why was he so fucking tense? He scowled at his reflection in the mirror, splashing water onto his face to resist the pull of negativity (and to clean the bits of blood off, but he didn’t want to think about that). Deep breathes, don’t cough, inhale, exhale. Everything was _fine._

 

It calmed down, only to rise again with the morning announcement. He grit his teeth, trying to push down the sudden fear rising in his body. Dammit. He wasn’t scared of those stupid fucking bears. Thankfully this attack passed almost as soon as it came, though leaving him tired nonetheless. He felt a swell of empathy for Shuichi; it was clear from how he quivered like a leaf that he suffered from some sorta chronic anxiety issues, and dealing with this on a regular basis? Fuck, that had to be hell.

Though, the situation they were in was probably an even worse hell. He sighed, tossing his jacket on and leaving for breakfast, greeting a downtrodden Shuichi after a few minutes of lingering around. That wasn't surprising; the murders of Angie and Chabashira and the trial that had followed the day before had been rough on the entire group.

 

He herded his sidekick towards the cafeteria, pushing any distracting thoughts to the side. It’d be bad if he made the others worry; weakness from him would lead to fear in the group. He was the leader figure after all, so he had to keep everyone together to avoid another murder.

Of course, Ouma had to make that difficult. Even without the dark mood lingering over the hall, him opening his lying mouth was always a pain. At least he wasn’t moping like the rest of the group, though Kaito couldn’t say if that was from a lack of concern or what.

 

On a positive note, Yumeno was attempting to stand strong. If he didn’t have his hands full with Shuichi and Harumaki ~~and his coughing~~ , maybe he’d invite her to train with them. She could use someone to guide her along, even if Chabashira had given her a big push forward with her final words.

 

As he was finishing off his miso soup and attempting to nudge Shuichi into eating more of his eggs, Gonta finally lumbered in, worry written clear as day on his face. As he explained the addition to the writing in the courtyard, Kaito felt bad that he was finding himself bored with the turn of events. Was his training regiment just not enough to keep his ambitious mind focused? Maybe they were missing something, something that could snap his mind back into gear. He was Momota Kaito, Luminary of the Stars; he wouldn’t allow himself to become disheartened.

 

Just as he was jerking himself back into reality, Monokuma decided it was time to make his post-trial appearance. Stupid fucker and his stupid kubs, acting as if getting to access new areas was worth the lives of their friends. Disgust swelled in him at the very sight. It didn’t help that Ouma was acting all buddy-buddy with them.

 

Monophanie held up a stone and a paintbrush to the group, eagerly declaring them to be the latest keys before turning to her brother. “Come on, Monotaro; give them the third item.”

He tilted his head. “Huh? What item? I don’t have nothing!”

She gasped. “You lost it?! That was the motive!” She hit him upside the head with the frying pan again. Guh, he was tired of this stupid comedy routine.

“Oh, a motive?” Ouma sounded interested. “How disappointing, the game won’t be exciting without a motive.” He grinned. “But maybe that means I won’t get murdered after all!”

 

“Can you shut the hell up,” Kaito grumbled, though he had to admit he was relieved. He glanced towards the others; Shuichi looked deep in thought, eyebrows knitted as he looked to the silent Monokuma.

Who wasn’t silent for much longer, as he chuckled. “Oh, that old thing? I think it was dropped somewhere, but whatever! I got a better idea for a motive, so I enacted it right away! In fact...” His red eye flashed. “... some of you might be feeling it right now.”

Feeling? Kaito was no Ultimate Detective, but it didn’t take one to hear the implication that _something_ had been done to their bodies. Was... Was whatever was making him cough the next motive? Were the rest of them sick too? A deep dread broke through his repressed emotions.

“What do you mean?” Harumaki asked, fixing the bear with a glare. They received no answer to her question, however, as Monokuma simply laughed at them and made his exit. The kubs hung around, though Monophanie was quick to follow her father’s lead, leaving her brother to the wolves. Not that he would be useful, with his convenient amnesia.

 

“Jeez, just forget about the stupid motive.” He scratched the back of his head, trying to appear nonchalant. “Let’s just go check out the new areas or whatever.”

“Hm, no, I don’t think so,” Ouma had to object, “I think I’m gonna go look for that third motive item; that sounds much more exciting!” Exciting? More like worrying; last time Ouma messed around with the motives, Hoshi learned that Harumaki had his motive video and watched it, leading to him choosing to give up his life to Toujou.

“I said,” Kaito repeated louder, “Forget about it.”

 

“Gee, who died and made you leader,” Ouma replied with a grin, dampening the mood further from the verbal attack. He clenched his fists, trying to hold himself back as a wave of anger followed the sadness.

“What's your fucking problem?!”

Ouma smirked, pulling his hands behind his head. “What’s _your_ problem, Momota-chan? Are you that scared of what little ol’ me will do with Monokuma’s motive?” His expression quickly changed, big blobs of wetness filling the corners of his eyes. “I, I thought you trusted meeee!” He sobbed in his obviously fake way.

 

“Who’d trust a liar like you?”

 

The room was quiet as Ouma’s face returned to a more neutral expression. “Oh, well, I guess you’re right. That was a lie anyway.” Kaito bit down on his tongue as a stabbing pain hit his chest. “I’ll be going now; have fun with exploring!”

“Wait-!” Before he could stop him, Ouma ran out. Instinct forced him to run after, ignoring the others shouts.

 

It was probably a poor decision, he realized after a few minutes of “playing tag”. Just attempting to keep the other in view forced his body to its limit far too quickly. Frustration flooded him as he pushed himself harder, Ouma’s mocking jibes echoing back at him. This continued until he lost him somewhere on the 3rd floor, his chest throbbing in protest. He slumped onto one of the benches near Harumaki’s lab, glaring at his clenched fists and trying to hold down the cough threatening to rise. Why did he have to be like this? So... So **weak.**

 

... Now wasn't the time to sit around feeling sorry for himself. With a grunt, he pulled himself up, wandering up to the 4th floor. The place was still creepy as hell. He didn't linger long, especially when he discovered stairs leading up to the 5th floor. Shuichi must've unlocked it. His sidekick was becoming more reliable, thanks to his training of course.

And speaking of Shuichi, it didn’t take long to find him, along with Harumaki. The two of them were on the far side of the 5th floor, inside what appeared to be the Ultimate Detective’s lab. With the door left cracked open, he was able to catch bits of their conversation as he approached them.

 

“... only useful after it’s too late.” Shuichi hung his shoulders, eyes trailing along the floor in defeat.

Harumaki crossed her arms. “Why are you so gloomy all of a sudden? Do you want to die?”

He flinched. “You’d kill me just for that?!” Kaito snorted in amusement, before deciding it was as good of time as any to make his entry. After all, what kind of leader would he be if he didn’t step in to inspire him?

 

Once the ‘Shuichi pep talk’ session was concluded and he wandered off to go use the second item, Harumaki sighed. “He’s high maintenance. Not that he’s the only one; are you going to go look for Ouma again?”

He scratched the back of his head. “Prolly not. If he doesn’t want to be found, looking for him’ll just be a waste of time. I bet he’ll come running back when we find the Flashback Light.” He grinned. “So let’s get looking, Harumaki!”

She huffed. “Both him and you are a pain. Stop calling me that.”

 

They scoured the 5th floor, checking every nook and cranny on a level of thoroughness that would impress Shuichi. After some time searching in silence, Kaito got the feeling that Harumaki wanted to say something and turned to her expectantly. She stared back, before sighing again.

“So, what do you think the motive is?”

A paralyzing terror nipped at his nerves. “Uh, I, I dunno. Something to do with our bodies..?”

She glanced away. “I do feel a bit strange. Not sick or anything, but...” She hesitated. “Oddly excited? There’s nothing exciting me though.” She trailed off, running her fingers through one of her twintails.

“Huh, weird. Maybe it’s-” His eye caught on a distinct shape. “Oh, the Flashback Light!” He approached the pillar, finding it hanging on a nail far above the others reach. For him or Gonta, however, it would be easily obtained. “Great, let’s gather the others!”

 

Harumaki stayed silent for a long second. “Alright, fine.” Ah, was she upset with the sudden topic change? He’d have to make it up to her later.

 

* * *

The Flashback Light was horrifying.

 

Fire raining from the sky. Panicked screams, pushing, shoving, sobbing. The memories of dark times etched itself into his mind, into all their minds. He curled his hand into a fist on the table, using it to steady himself. The others were equally as unstable; Iruma shook until she fell into a chair, bringing her knees to her chest to assume the fetal position. Shuichi stood stock still, eyes wide with terror. Gonta started crying on the spot.

 

He had to take control of the situation. He knew that, yet his body would barely move. His chest felt like it was in a vice, terror constricting to the point he could barely breathe. His eyes languidly moved across the scared faces of his friends, until they met Ouma’s. Stone-faced, unreactive towards the chaos around him. Mask firmly in place. His lips split, corners turning up into a false smile.

 

An abyss opened up in Kaito’s chest, swallowing all the feelings the Flashback Light brought down into it until he was left with nothing but apathy. No, not apathy - Emptiness would be the better word. He felt numbingly empty, a dull ache leaving his body tingling.

 

“Fuck! I’m so fucking tired of this!” Iruma wailed, pulling his attention away. With her terror-filled shouts, the watergates opened, prompting conversation among the group about what they saw. The meteorites. The cult. The Gofer Project. It all sounded so surreal, but...

“It wouldn’t be so strange if something beyond common sense happened, would it?” Ouma pointed out, “I mean, with Monokuma and the Exisals, is anything really too far out there?” His conceited smirk both pissed him off and confused him.

“What are you getting at?”

“Hm? I’m not getting at anything,” he lied. Kaito scowled as he felt his interest in whatever Ouma was keeping to himself rise.

 

“Buncha BS,” he muttered in response, shaking his head. He couldn’t waste time indulging Ouma’s lies. “Anyway, don’t worry guys, I’m sure everything’s gonna turn out okay. We’ll find a way to escape this fucked up Killing Game and see with our own two eyes that everything’s fine!”

He clenched his fists, anger pumping in his veins. Out of the corner of his eye, Ouma slipped out of the cafeteria. Whatever. He could deal with him later.

 

“While I agree,” Kiibo hesitantly begun, “I think... I think I would like some time to myself to think about this. All this new information is, well, quite fatiguing to take in.”

Shit, yeah, the others did look pretty tired. He sighed, scratching the back of his head. “Guess you’re right. But don’t forget what I said, alright!” He might as well been talking to a brick wall as the others shuffled out, Iruma quivering and mumbling to herself while Yumeno dragged her feet, head hung. Shuichi went out the interior door back into the school by himself while Shirogane ducked into the kitchen.

 

“Um, Momota-kun,” Gonta spoke up as Harumaki was leaving, “If there is anything Gonta can do to help, just let Gonta know.” He pulled his glasses off, dragging his sleeve across his tear-streaked snotty face. “Gonta wanna be helpful to everyone, so he took manhole cover back off.”

He gave him a smile and pat on the back. “Hey, no need to cry man, you’re doin’ fine. I don’t think we’ll be challenging the underground passage again though.”

Gonta slumped. “O-Oh. Gonta think more of how he can help then.” He turned to leave as well, prompting Kaito to shout encouragements into his back. Damn, what a mess. His chest was burning after all that stress.

 

Guess it was time for a bathroom break.


	2. Chapter 2

Once **that** was dealt with, he leaned against the wall outside of the boys’ bathroom, trying to decide what to do with his free time. Usually, someone would come find him to hang out, but he didn’t see that happening. He could just return to his room, but spending even one more day cooped up was not his idea of a good time. Maybe if he wandered around aimlessly, he’d find something useful.

 

He groaned as he reluctantly pushed himself off the wall, rolling his shoulders as he headed up the stairs to the second floor, pausing only when he reached the open area formerly housing a dragon statue. Akamatsu’s lab was nearby, huh. He’d never been in it, but Ouma’s provocation earlier brought her back to the forefront of his mind. He almost wished he had his own talent lab to go to to occupy himself. Almost. As if he’d want something made by Monokuma. Even if he was really curious as to what it’d look like.

He pushed open the door to her lab, and was surprised when he found the room already occupied. Shuichi looked up as he entered, before quickly turning away to rub at his eyes. “O-Oh, Momota-kun.”

“Hey, what’re you doing?” Kaito crossed the room to stand beside him.

Shuichi fidgeted in his seat at the piano. “I, well, um, I don’t know.” He paused, wringing his hands. “Maybe it’s silly, but... Coming here helps me remember to keep moving forward to fulfill Akamatsu-san’s final wish.” He looked down. “Even if almost half of us are gone.”

 

He frowned. “Hey, c’mon, you shouldn’t mope around in here; you know she wouldn’t want that. We’re gonna fulfill her wish no matter what, but first we gotta pull ourselves together and- and find a way outta here.”

His pep talk was strangely ineffective, Shuichi instead sighing, “I know that. I just... I just don’t like how none of us are allowed time to grieve before the next person is torn away from us.” He swallowed. “I- It’s not healthy, right? Shouldn’t we be crying more than just- just once or twice? Seven people are dead.”

The broken tone in his sidekicks voice both tugged at his heartstrings and lit a fire in his chest. He shoved those away, trying to focus on what to say to make things right. _Was_ there something he could say to fix it? Probably not, but Kaito never let the word impossible stop him from trying.

“No one said you couldn’t grieve, but there’s a time and a place, and, well, we don’t really have either of those right now.” Was that insensitive? “Uh, but you know I’m always here for you, bro. We’re all here for you.” Except probably Ouma. And he couldn’t see Iruma wanting to offer any appropriate coping mechanisms. “So, uh, keep your chin up! We gotta live life facing forward, for her sake as well!”

 

Shuichi smiled weakly. “Thanks, Momota-kun.” He gingerly closed the piano's lid, hands shaking. “I... I honestly don't know why I feel so sad all of the sudden. I thought I was doing okay, but maybe the Flashback Light threw me more off balance than I thought.” He sighed. “Plus, there's still the motive to worry about. Honestly, it makes me more concerned that we don't know what it is. At least with the videos, we almost got by with not showing them to each other.”

"If you keep focusing on what you can't do, you're just gonna wear yourself out. It's possible that Monokuma was just bluffing to make up for the other motive being lost. Like, uh, what's it called... Like a placebo effect. Making us wary and paranoid of a motive that doesn't exist."

“I hope so,” he replied, wiping at his eyes one last time before standing. “Well, I know you said you swore off gambling, but have you tried the games aside from the slots? There's this really fun racing one...”

 

The rest of the day went by in an unproductive blur as they distracted themselves with the mindless escapism the casino provided. Kaito quickly found his calling punching fish in some salmon game while Shuichi was almost too focused on some racing game involving hitting people for points. For so-called stressed relief, Shuichi looked stressed by the game. Eventually, Kaito couldn't resist the allure of the slots and tore through half of the coins he borrowed in hopes of getting the rush of the jackpot.

 

It didn't happen.

 

As disappointment and frustration was starting to creep up on him, he finally acknowledged his stomach’s growls and quit. They'd skipped lunch, so it was no wonder that he was so hungry. He pulled Shuichi away from his road rage to get food; it'd be bad if neither of them had energy tonight for their training.

As if energy mattered when training did come around and it was all he could do to keep himself from hacking up his lungs in front of his sidekicks. It was annoying that he couldn't focus on enjoying his time with them. The normal itchy desire to move was drowned out by the equal, if not greater, itch in his chest. Not. Right. Now. He bit down on his tongue as Harumaki and Shuichi did their sit-ups next to him.

“Momota-kun?” Shuichi was talking to him. Looking at him with a mix of worry and exasperation at his lack of movement. Harumaki was still rapidly completing her sit-ups, though as she rose and fell he could tell her eyes were also on him.

“S-Sorry, guys, I gotta take a piss,” he fibbed, rolling over and pulling himself up as carefully as he could without drawing suspicion. He felt their stares in his back as he entered the school, moving slower than he should to try not to upset his stupid body.

 

He was washing blood out of the sink when it hit him.

 

He couldn’t breathe.

 

He grasped at his chest, wheezing as his vision blurred and he stumbled. He hit the ground. He couldn't feel his legs. He couldn't feel anything except the pounding of his heart, beating so hard that he could hear it. Was he going to die? He couldn’t. _He couldn’t._ He hadn't been to space yet. He **needed** to go to space.

He was becoming aware of how much his hands were shaking and his own hyperventilating when the bathroom door was shoved open.

“Momota-kun! I- I- huh?!” In seconds, Shuichi was at his side, panic written all over his face. “Are you okay?!”

Dammit, he couldn't let his sidekick see him like this. He shoved as much air as he could into his lungs to try to stop his rapid breathing, choking out a "Yeah" in-between breaths. “Yeah, I'm, I'm fine. It's nothing.” He forced his body up, pushing at the fear in his nerves as hard as he could. “What, why did you come to get me?”

Shuichi's observant eyes looked him over. Kaito caught a glimpse of himself in the bathroom mirror and winced; he looked like shit. Clothes overly wrinkled and normally perfect hair tousled. He still had blood on his face too. Fuck, he needed an excuse- “Shit, I think I bit my cheek or somethin’,” he mumbled, smudging away the streak of red on his chin. He resisted the urge to meet Shuichi's gaze.

 

“... Let’s go then. Something’s wrong with Harukawa-san.” Shuichi clearly didn't believe him entirely, but he didn’t press any further, instead grabbing Kaito by the arm and hauling him to his feet. Normally he would have protested being assisted, but his mind wasn’t exactly processing well enough _to_ argue.

The two of them ran back to the courtyard, only to find it empty. Where he expected Harumaki to be, there was only empty space. “Huh? Where'd she go? What happened?”

“Um, she was here when I left... Maybe she returned to her room? We were talking, then she suddenly froze and wouldn't respond.” He hesitated. “She was grabbing her chest sort of like you were, actually...”

 

Terror resurfaced in his mind. Was... Was he contagious? He hadn't coughed around either of them, though, and the most contact he'd had with her was... Oh... Had he somehow spread it to her when he hugged her yesterday? Fuck... What the hell...

“Momota-kun?”

He swallowed, shaking his head. “Well, uh, maybe she's just tired. Let's go check up on her.”

 

They entered the dorm and huddled in front of her door, pounding on it and the bell for a few minutes with no luck. And when the sound of a door opening finally greeted them, it wasn't her door; on the far right of the second floor, Yumeno's door opened, her head poking out through the gap.

“Oh, it's Saihara and Momota,” she said tiredly, “My magic told me there was someone outside, but I thought it would be Ouma trying to pull a prank on me.”

"Ah, sorry, did we wake you?" Shuichi shifted nervously.

She shook her head. “I haven't fallen asleep yet; every time I try, I get all panicky and worried...” She yawned. “My mana's so low right now... It's possible I got hit with an insomniac curse while I wasn't looking.”

“I'm... sorry to hear that.”

 

She exited her room fully, rubbing at her eyes. “So, what are you two doing?”

“Well, it's-”

“We were just finishing up,” Kaito interrupted. If she was already having trouble sleeping, telling her that something was wrong would just make it worse. “We're gonna head to bed, so you try to get some sleep too, alright?”

“Geez,” she sighed, “Just you saying that makes it feel like it'll be even harder to sleep now. Are you the one casting the insomnia spells?” She tugged her hat down with a glare that was in no way intimidating. “I won't forgive you if you try to one-up my magic.”

He laughed. “Yeah, yeah, I'm not castin' any spells, don't worry.”

 

Reassured by his words, she returned to her room. Once her door was closed, Shuichi immediately turned to him. “So, what are we going to do about Harukawa-san?”

He shook his head. “We'll have to leave her be for now. It's probably nothing.” Hopefully. Hopefully nothing. “You go on ahead to bed, Shuichi. I'll try for a few more minutes, but if push comes to shove, we'll just talk to her tomorrow.”

He hesitated, but nodded. “Okay. Good night, then.” He started to head down the stairs, before pausing and looking back up. “Are... Are _you_ alright, Momota-kun?”

He put on a grin. “Of course!”

Shuichi was silent for a moment, before nodding and continuing towards his room.

 

Once his door closed and the dorm lobby was empty, Kaito finally let himself slump, fatigue heavy on his shoulders. He turned to Harumaki’s door, ringing on the bell a handful of times as he said he would before giving up and returning to his room.

His dirty bed sat mocking him as he closed the door and shrugged his clothes off. He wished he could be angry at it, but he was too tired. He tore the still bloody pillowcase off and crumpled it into a ball, dumping it into the trash bin. He replaced it with one of the replica galactic jackets hanging in the closet, wrapping it around so the galaxy print showed.

 

As he rested his head down among the stars, a nervous energy swirling inside him, he had the feeling that he wasn’t going to be sleeping anytime soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the positive feedback on the first chapter! Hope you all had a good Oumota Week <3


	3. Chapter 3

With a grand total of four hours of sleep to fuel him, Kaito made his way to the cafeteria in a daze. Only to realize that, since the morning announcement hadn’t played yet, it was still locked up. As he groaned and gave the door a weak punch in frustration, one of his classmates appeared in his peripheral.

“You’re here pretty early, Momota-kun,” Shirogane greeted, “Did you have trouble sleeping too?” She sighed. “I woke up and just couldn’t get back to sleep.”

“I’m pretty sure Shuichi’s the only one that sleeps until the morning announcement,” he joked in response, turning towards her and leaning against the door as casually as he could.

“Ah, but it’s plain to see he’s your everyday night owl. If it weren’t for the announcement, who knows when we’d see him.”

“Yeah, true.” He scratched the back of his head. “Geez, you know he told me he normally doesn’t eat breakfast? How’s he supposed to get stronger if he’s skipping the most important meal of the day?”

“Oh, well...” She glanced away. “I honestly don’t eat breakfast much either. Well, didn’t, before this. There’s usually just so much else on my mind that before I know it, it’s lunchtime.”

 

They made some light talk as they waited for the cafeteria to open. The conversation helped pull his mind from drifting into tired, worried thoughts, so he was thankful that he’d left his room early. Being outside and active did wonders for his mental health, unsurprisingly.

 

Barely a minute after the disgust-invoking announcement played, he saw Harumaki exit the dorms. Shirogane followed his gaze, turning to watch her approach with him. “Good morning, Harukawa-san. Did you sleep well?”

She paused once she stepped onto the deck. “Well enough.” Her eyes flickered to Kaito, but she said nothing further, even when he also greeted her.

“So, I was thinking,” Shirogane said, continuing her abandoned train of thought, “Now that my research lab is open, it would be fun to get everyone together and cosplay. You know, as a, um, bonding-stress relief sort of activity?”

 

Kaito wasn’t interested in cosplay, but who was he to turn down bonding time with the group when they so desperately needed to stand together. “Sure, that sounds fine. Harumaki?”

“No thanks, I’ll pass.” She pushed past them into the cafeteria, leaving the two of them to sigh.

“Don’t worry, Momota-kun, I’ll make sure she comes.” Her eyes burned with a fiery passion. “This cosplay party won’t be ignored; I won’t allow it.”

To anyone else, her determination might’ve been a bit scary. But not to Kaito. Definitely not. “Alright, but don’t hurt yourself,” he laughed, trying to cover up the worry that was flooding him as he watched his sidekick’s back. “Let me talk to her first though; maybe I can convince her.”

 

She agreed, waiting outside to greet the others while Kaito entered and approached Harumaki, who was dumping rice into the rice cooker.

“Hey, Harumaki, you doin’ alright?” When she didn’t respond, he sighed. “Shuichi told me what happened while I was in the bathroom.” He paused. “You... You’re not sick or anything, right?” He hoped the answer was no, but asking was the only way to find out.

“I’m fine,” she curtly stated, “Saihara overreacted, and I decided to leave since I was done and I didn’t want to deal with any drama.”

He frowned. “But you didn't answer your door-”

“Did I have to?” She cut him off, very clearly annoyed. “It was nighttime. I wanted to go to bed. That was it.”

 

He wanted to keep pushing, but Kiibo entering stopped him. “Ah, good morning Momota-kun, Harukawa-san!” He glanced around the room. “Have you seen Iruma-san? I’ve seen everyone but her so far.”

“Nah, not yet. She’s probably in her lab or somethin’,” he responded. When Kiibo turned away, he looked back to Harumaki, mumbling, “Let’s talk later, then.”

 

She huffed but didn’t disagree.

 

Surprisingly, Shuichi wasn’t the last to arrive for breakfast for once. He entered with Yumeno, having a rather slow paced conversation as he rubbed sleep out of his eyes. Ouma darted in a minute after them, closely followed by Shirogane and Gonta, who’d been standing in the doorway chatting before he cut in front of them. At which point, a concerned Kiibo left to find Iruma, the only one not there.

When he returned with her, loud and giddy in a clearly sleep deprived way, Ouma wasted no time abandoning his meal to start shit with his two favorite targets.

“Hey, you’re finally back from your morning quickie! What’s it like, having a threesome with a computer and a robot?”

“I dunno, what’s it like jerkin’ off your morning wood into the toilet bowl?” Iruma was quick to retort. As Kiibo stammered at her language and lack of proper objection to Ouma’s question, he shared an exasperated look with the rest of the group.

 

Their banter continued with no sign of acknowledging the looks, gradually escalating in vulgarity until a heavy pound caused the entire room to flinch. “Please, don’t fight!” Gonta shouted, his palms flat on the table from having slammed them down, “Gonta doesn’t understand, but friends shouldn’t fight!”

Iruma shrunk, while Ouma merely blinked. Kaito took it upon himself to step in. “Hey, calm down, they’re just messin’ with each other, not fighting.”

“Huh? Not fighting?” His face twisted in confusion and distress. “But...”

“Geez Gonta, you’re as wrong as always.” Ouma turned his barbed words towards him. “I mean, even if we were fighting, it wouldn’t matter since we’re not friends.”

“Y-Yeah, that’s right,” Iruma stuttered out, “I mean, why, why would a gorgeous genius like me need idiots like you all as friends.”

 

“That’s right!” Ouma spread his arms out, gesturing to the rest of them. “After all, ‘friends’ implies trust, and this fun Killing Game is all about betrayal! There’s no trust to be found here!” He giggled gleefully, and Kaito clenched his fists in frustration at his antics. “Way to go, Iruma-chan, you finally said something worthwhile. Maybe now you won’t have to resort to whoring yourself out to get some respect.”

Predictably, she quivered and let out a breathy moan at his taunt. That, however, was closely followed by Harumaki’s chopsticks clattering to the floor as she jerked out of her seat, murder in her eyes as she looked to Ouma. A small pit of fear surfaced in Kaito’s chest at the sight.

“If you don’t shut up, I’ll make you. Permanently.”

“Ooo, how scary! Momota-chan, you should really keep your guard dog on a leash. We’ll be in a lot of trouble if she becomes the next blackened.” He nonchalantly flicked some dirt out from underneath his fingernails. “Well, maybe I should say _‘when’_ instead. I mean, she _is_ a murderer already.”

 

Kaito rose from his seat and moved to her side. “Harumaki won’t kill anyone. Especially not over you actin’ like a shithead.” In fact, the fact that Ouma would even _think_ that she would was starting to make his blood boil.

“Oh? But what about the motive?” Ouma challenged.

“What about it?”

“Don’t you think that could make her kill?”

He hesitated for only a moment. “Of course not! Besides, it’s clear that there is no motive.” He pointedly ignored the silent “for now” that could be tacked onto the end of his sentence.

 

Ouma smirked. “But there is. In fact, I already know what it is.”

“You do?” Shuichi chimed in, “What is it?”

“I’m not telling,” he sang, “Even if it _is_ Saihara-chan asking. After all, if I’m the only one that knows, that means I have complete control over the motive. And...” His smirk grew even more condescending. “Complete control over everyone here.”

 

His declaration to the group was met with a growing fear of the unknown. Some of them shared uncertain looks with each other. Kaito kept his eyes on Ouma, skin crawling as he tried to figure out if it was a lie or not.

 

Harumaki was the first to recover. “So, is that a threat?” She shifted, as if ready to jump across the table and lunge for him at any time. In response, Ouma’s gaze briefly flickered between her, the rest of the group, and the exits, not so subtly leaning towards the interior door.

“Maybe, maybe not.” He folded his arms behind his head. “Why, are you _afraid,_ Harukawa-chan?” He didn’t wait for her response to try to leave the cafeteria.

Kaito frowned and moved to cut him off, standing between him and the door. “Seriously, what’s your problem?! You’re being particularly nasty and I don’t like it.”

He grinned. “I’m just trying to have fun! This game isn’t fun unless there’s drama and suspense, right? That’s why Monokuma didn’t tell us what the motive was, so the suspense of figuring it out would put us on edge.” He sniffed. “How could I be so cruel and take that mystery away from you all?” As quick as the pretend sadness came, it was gone, his face returning to its normal smile. “Well, I mean, it’s mostly that it’s more interesting watching you all run around with no idea, but still.”

 

“Bull-fucking-shit!” Iruma shouted, sweating buckets as she gripped Kiibo’s shoulders, keeping him in-between her and Ouma, “What are you gonna do with the motive if not use it to get one of us killed!”

Harumaki glared. “Is that your plan? To become the next blackened?”

“Or manipulate one of us to, perhaps..?” Shirogane quietly added.

Ouma tapped his finger against his cheek for a long moment. “Both of those are very good ideas. Since my objection is to win the game, obviously I’ll need to do whatever it takes. That’s just the kind of game that is.”

 

A blind fury descended upon his mind and before Kaito could process his words, he was already moving, his fist connecting with the side of Ouma’s face, knocking him back.

 

He immediately regretted it. But he pushed it down, instead choosing to yell, “That’s enough! I don’t know what your deal is, Ouma, but you need to cut it out!” Shuichi ran to his side to attempt to pacify him, but Kaito shrugged him off. The blood in his chest was ready to blow from the anger flooding him, too strong to ignore. “Either you calm down off of whatever weird, fucked up direction your mind’s goin’ in, or I’ll beat some sense into you!”

Ouma didn’t respond. His shoulders shook, but he hid his expression in his long bangs and downward tilted face.

Kiibo ran to his side along with Gonta to help Shuichi pull him back towards the table. He resisted, but with his deteriorating strength and Gonta’s, well, Gonta-ness, it was a futile effort. And the second he was out of the way, Ouma slinked out, the door only opening enough to let him slip through.

 

The sigh of relief that passed through the group once he was gone made Kaito’s stomach churn. Oh. Fuck. He’d fucked up. He stared down at his now throbbing hand, slowly stretching it. Guilt slowly replaced the waning anger and frustration that had built up. “Dammit,” he hissed, clenching his fist again.

Breakfast was finished with an awkward tension hovering over them. Iruma muttered under her breath while Gonta squirmed in his seat, giving the rest of the group worried looks. Shuichi looked like he wanted to say something to either him or Harumaki - or both - but refrained.

 

Finally, the silence was broken. “Um, Gonta wants to say something, if that’s okay...”

Kaito held back a tired sigh. Damn, he needed a nap. “Yeah, sure, go ahead big guy.”

“Yeah big dick, you tell ‘em,” Iruma barked as she dumped her barely-eaten meal and scurried out the door. Kiibo gasped and ran after her, shouting about how she needed to eat properly.

“A-Ah, wait!” Gonta shouted after them, before slumping. “Gonta wanted everyone to hear, but everyone’s fighting...”

 

“It’s okay, you can still tell us,” Shuichi comforted, “We can tell the others later for you, if you want.”

“That’s right,” Harumaki agreed, before immediately leaving. Kaito sputtered at his sidekick’s uncooperativeness; he’d have to address that later!

“Uh, well... Gonta, Gonta is going to fight Monokuma and Exisals!” He declared.

“Huh?” Shirogane’s expression quickly changed to worry. “Gonta-kun, no! You’ll get hurt, or worse!”

“She’s right,” Kaito agreed, “I know how you feel, but throwing yourself into danger isn’t gonna help us.”

 

Gonta’s face twisted as he looked down. “But...”

Yumeno sighed loudly. “Geez, all this drama is exhausting. This sort of environment is bad for my new positive lifestyle.” She pushed herself out of her chair, pointing at him. “Gonta! You will carry me to the dojo, where I will reveal your true purpose to you! A purpose full of positivity, or something...” She trailed off, clearly having used up all of her energy in one go.

Thankfully, he was as easily distracted as always. At least they could trust that Yumeno wouldn’t manipulate him like Ouma would, Kaito mused as he watched him pick her up and follow her demands.

 

As the door slowly swung shut behind Gonta, Shuichi coughed awkwardly. “Um, I suppose I should be going too. She asked me to come to the dojo as well.”

“Incorporating some daytime training into your regime, huh Shuichi?” He shot his sidekick a thumbs up. “Keep up the good work!”

“Ah, I will.” Shuichi smiled fondly, waving a farewell to him and Shirogane as he quickly followed after Gonta and Yumeno.

 

Once he was out of sight, Kaito stood from his seat, stretching. “Well, I think I’m gonna head back to my room for a bit. See you at lunch?”

“Of course.” She nodded, then paused for a moment. “Oh, if you wouldn’t mind, would you help me with something afterwards?”


	4. Chapter 4

In the short time since he last really investigated the warehouse, a surprising amount of dust had settled on the shelves and various supplies. It hurt both his heart and his lungs, the latter for obvious reasons, and his heart from the reminder that it would likely have been clean if not for Toujou’s betrayal and subsequent execution.

He shook off the depressing thoughts; he needed to focus on the task at hand, not getting upset over the losses their group had sustained. He tugged a sealed box off one of the shelves, covering his mouth as dust went flying. He was starting to regret agreeing to help Shirogane.

She hadn’t asked for much, however. Just a camera, a nice digital one unlike the ones Shuichi’d used in the trap he and Akamatsu set up so long ago.

Dammit. He roughly wiped at his watery eyes, the dust in the air clearly the source of irritation. Once tears weren’t threatening to spill, he tore open the box, disappointed to find it was only a case of canned food. He should’ve guessed it from the weight and size. Frustrated with himself, he pushed the box away with more force than necessary, pulling himself back up to search a different area.

 

After half an hour passed with no luck, he was distracted by the sound of someone entering the warehouse, the door softly clicking shut behind them. As he weaved his way around the shelves, he wasn’t too surprised when the heavy footsteps turned out to belong to Kiibo.

 

“Oh, Momota-kun.” He jerked as if surprised by Kaito’s sudden appearance. “What are you doing here?”

“Lookin’ for something for Shirogane. What about you?”

“I’m also running an errand for someone!” He smiled, extending his index finger pointedly. “Iruma-san demanded I come grab her some snacks and, um-” If he’d had a human face, Kaito imagined the slight dimming of his eyes would translate to scrunching his face in thought. “‘The largest rubber you can find’, whatever that is.”

Kaito hesitated. “Uh, well, we can definitely get some snacks. I don’t think you’ll need to worry about the other request.” He definitely didn’t want to go looking for _that._

 

Kiibo let out a sigh. “Well, hopefully that’ll be fine then. She’s in a bit of a mood today, so I was hoping to help her relax by spending some time with her.”

... In _that_ way? “Isn’t, uh, isn’t she always in a mood?”

“Of course not!” He clearly took offense to the question. “For instance, she was very happy yesterday to discover the Ultimate Robot’s lab, but now I can barely get her to leave that computer on the 4th floor alone for even a few minutes.”

Seriously, was he jealous? “Hey, chill, I’m sure she’s fine. Maybe she just wants to finish that before working on something else?”

“Her lab is full of half finished designs! That can’t be the issue!”

“Okay, well, uh...” He scratched the back of his head. “What do you think’s goin’ on?”

 

Kiibo paused. “I’m... not certain. Her mood is normally volatile, yes, but... I think something happened. She may appear to be her normal moody self, but I can almost see this, this layer of panic beneath every movement she makes.”

“I mean, Ouma _did_ go out of his way to freak everyone out this morning, so-”

He shook his head. “That can’t be it. She was already like this when I went to get her for breakfast.”

“Huh.” Kaito moved his hand from his head to his chin, stroking his goatee. “Well, I’m outta ideas. That time of the month?”

 

“What?!” Kiibo’s face flushed. “Momota-kun, I might not be human, but even I know that’s not appropriate! Not everything is caused by a woman’s cycle!”

He winced at his volume; okay, bad joke. “Well, uh, what else do you think it could be then?”

He huffed, calming himself down. “She seemed fine yesterday, that I know for certain. But as for what caused her to suddenly-” He paused. “Wait. Perhaps it was the Flashback Light?”

“Well, yeah, the Flashback Light freaked all of us out. Iruma especially, now that I think about it. I guess the most obvious solution’s normally the right one.” Except when it came to which Ultimate murdered another and how they did it, but that wasn’t exactly the everyday mystery.

 

“Perhaps, yes. There’s also the motive to consider. I know we - Ouma-kun excluded - have agreed there is no motive, but...” He hesitated.

“But?”

“Well, it’s just... My inner voice keeps saying that we shouldn’t ignore the motive. That we should try to figure out what it is.”

A shudder ran through his body. “Man, you’re still going on about that Atua crap?”

 

Of course, he took offense to that too; talking with Kiibo was a delicate balance between avoiding being robophobic and avoiding offending him at all. “As I said before, my inner voice has nothing to do with Atua; I simply mistook it for His voice for a period of time.”

Alright! Time to escape this conversation! “I see. Well, enough about that; let’s go find you some shit for Iruma. Let me know if you find a digital camera; that’s what Shirogane’s askin’ for.”

Kiibo faltered, then brightened up. “I see! If that’s all you require, I can easily provide what you need!” He gave Kaito a long look, before his mouth suddenly ejected a piece of paper. Ah, right; he could print his memory or something. “Please, take it; consider it a gift.”

Hearing Kiibo’s voice without his mouth moving was unsettling enough that he did as he was told. As he flipped it over, an unfamiliar feeling welled up in his chest. He swallowed.

 

It was a picture from their first breakfast together, the morning after attempting the underground passage. The scene replayed in his mind as if it’d just happened yesterday instead of two weeks ago. Akamatsu being really torn up about it. Ouma doing a relatively normal level of shit stirring. The First Blood Perk. The small amount of hope that has risen from Monokuma’s temporary destruction. Everyone... Everyone was alive and happy.

 

“I...” His voice caught. He wasn’t sure what he could say that wouldn’t seem overly mushy or result in crying. “Thanks.” He left it at that, carefully folding the photo in half before sliding it into his pocket.

“You’re welcome! Just let me know when Shirogane-san wants my assistance!” Seemingly oblivious to the torrent of emotions his act of kindness had brought forth, Kiibo proudly marched off to complete his original task. Kaito quietly watched him, not having the heart to point out that he wasn’t even sure if Shirogane would accept him as a replacement for the camera.

 

* * *

 

He did manage to find one eventually, tucked away under a pile of electronics that Iruma had torn through at some point. It had a few scratches but was fully functional as far as he could tell, so he’d call that mission complete. Now it was a matter of taking it all the way up to the 5th floor.

 

Why did Shirogane’s lab have to be so far away?

 

He let out a tired sigh as he finally made it all the way up, hating that he was winded from something so mundane. At least this appeared to be the final floor; any further areas to be opened would hopefully remain within this five-story limit. Not that he - or any of them really - wanted any more areas to open.

“Momota?” A voice greeted his arrival, and he quickly straightened himself back up to avoid looking as out of breath as he felt.

“Harumaki! Hey, what’s up?”

She approached from the direction of Shuichi’s lab, her eyes sweeping over him. “What are you doing?” Didn’t answer his question, but oh well.

“I’m bringing this to Shirogane.” He held up the camera. “Wanna come with?”

 

“Not really.” She shifted in place for a moment, expression tight, then sighed. “Well, I won’t hold you up. Have fun.” She turned away, and Kaito quickly grabbed her shoulder to stop her from leaving.

“Hey, c’mon, I know that look. What’s up? Got somethin’ to get off your chest?” She didn’t respond, keeping her gaze averted. “Ready to talk about what happened last night-?”

“No,” she quickly objected, “As I said, nothing happened.”

He frowned. “You don’t have to bottle it all up. That’s not-”

 

“So what do you want me to say to you,” she snapped, shoving Kaito’s hand off her, “That I had my first panic attack since I was 13? That all of the sudden, I’m suffocated by emotions I thought were long dead? I can barely breathe alone with my own thoughts let alone put up with your desire to help everyone.”

Kaito paused, letting her outburst settle until he filtered through her words. “That’s good. Feeling things is normal, being overwhelmed is normal. Panic attacks, well, they’re not, but they’re not uncommon.” He scratched the back of his head. “I know you don’t want advice, but I’m here for you when you need to vent. You don’t have to hide.”

The walls Harumaki built around herself appeared to be crumbling as she struggled to meet his steady gaze. “I...” She sighed. “I don’t like this. I have enough to worry about without dealing with foreign emotions.” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “Without being scared.”

 

He reached out again and gave her shoulder a comforting squeeze. “Then it’s just like I told Shuichi; you can’t get caught up in your head. Sometimes, you gotta take that nervous energy and channel it into something more productive. That’s what training’s for.” He removed his hand, giving her an encouraging smile. “You’re getting stronger already. Just remember you can be afraid, but don’t be afraid of relying on us, alright?”

She shook her head. “You’re an idiot.” He’d be offended, but the affection attached to the insult was clear. She took a deep breath. “Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it.” He gestured to Shirogane’s lab with the camera. “So, you sure you don’t wanna come?”

She glanced back towards Shuichi’s. “I was guarding the poisons in Saihara’s lab, but...” She looked back, a hand moving to run through her hair. “I suppose a break wouldn’t hurt. Either way, if anyone really wanted them, only watching them for a few hours a day isn’t going to stop them.”

He sweated. “Hey, don’t say that. No one’s going to touch anything in there.”

 

She raised a brow at him. “Not even Ouma?”

“Course not! I knocked some sense into him!” He paused. “But, well, if you see him anywhere near there, just let me know. I’ll do it as many times as needed until he learns his lesson.” 

“Saihara thinks that you punching him just made things worse,” she bluntly stated. He flinched. “Honestly, I agree; you’re just as good with your words, so really you shouldn’t be punching people.”

“C’mon, he, he’s not the type to listen to words. Sometimes you gotta just...” He trailed off. He fucked up, yeah, but was it really that big of a mistake? It couldn’t have been. “I’m sure that he needed that wake-up call, and anything I tried to say wouldn’t’ve reached him.”

“If you say so,” Harumaki responded, appearing dismissive, “Well, I’m sure you’ve kept Shirogane waiting long enough.” She nodded towards the lab.

“Right, right.” He sheepishly scratched his neck, letting the conversation drop as he headed towards the lab, opening the door.

 

The door to Hell.


End file.
